The gaming industry depends upon player participation. Players are generally “hopeful” players who either think they are lucky or at least think they can get lucky—for a relatively small investment to play a game, they can get a disproportionately large return. To create this feeling of luck, a gaming apparatus relies upon an internal or external random element generator to generate one or more random elements such as random numbers. The gaming apparatus determines a game outcome based, at least in part, on the one or more random elements.
A significant technical challenge is to improve the operation of gaming machines and games played thereon, including the manner in which interaction with a players is leveraged. Player interaction may include user interfaces relying upon new and old input devices, using new and old input methods. A long, established history of traditional interfaces may inhibit some players from trying new input techniques and fully engaging new input devices. For example, user interfaces involving controllers using motion sensing technology may not be intuitive when a player is introduced to the system for the first time. These considerations may inhibit successful introduction of new player input devices and input methods using new player interfaces for gaming machines of modern casinos.
Also, gaming machines that utilize multiple input devices may include recurrent player-interface instructional messages (e.g., tutorials or prompts) that become irritating to players during gameplay. The repeated presentation of unnecessary, redundant, or unwanted information may annoy or repel active players. Oppositely, players with limited proficiency or familiarity of particular input methods may find tutorial instruction beneficial and desirable. Further, some players may not want to use a particular type of input device or input method at all. Further, as the level of proficiency, familiarity, and desirability of messaging changes for a player during a gaming session, a level of required or desired tutorial messaging may also evolve.
Introducing a new input device using a gesture-based interface to a player for the first time is a key moment to promote future adoption. It is very important that a player does not reject the whole game on the basis of a new interface perceived as “too complicated” or “difficult to use.” Thus, finding a balance between helpful tutorial messaging and annoying interruptions is highly desirable. Thus, a method for intelligently and dynamically controlling an amount of tutorial instructional messaging is desirable. Also, the ability to control instructional message display based upon determined proficiency and/or player desirability for particular input methods enhances the player experience during use of gaming machines by minimizing unneeded or undesirable player-interface instruction and tutorial messaging.